Why Humans Evolved to Feel Happiness

From Fusion | June 22, 2015

The creators of Pixar’s new film Inside Out weren’t just speculating when they broke human emotions into five distinct categories (and corresponding animated characters). The idea that we feel a limited number of emotions—joy, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and possibly a few others—is grounded in scientific research.
To learn more about this spectrum, Fusion spoke with Dr. Dacher Keltner, whom the film’s creators consulted about the science of emotions. In this animated short, Keltner shares his insights on the unique nature of happiness—which, it turns out, is more altruistic than you might think.